THE HOLY BIBLE Douay-Rheims

Notes on Book of Genesis (Author Bishop Richard Challoner (ed.))

47:31 To the bed's head: St. Paul, Heb. 11.21, following the Greek translation of the Septuagint, reads adored the top of his rod. Where note, that the same word in the Hebrew, according to the different pointing of it, signifies both a bed and a rod. And to verify both these sentences, we must understand that Jacob leaning on Joseph's rod adored, turning towards the head of his bed: which adoration, inasmuch as it was referred to God, was an absolute and sovereign worship: but inasmuch as it was referred to the rod of Joseph, as a figure of the sceptre, that is, of the royal dignity of Christ, was only an inferior and relative honour.

Original Douay-Rheims from Project Gutenberg - Massive cleanup of OCR problems and editing done locally.